Eight months ago, Cody Wilson set out to create the worlds first entirely 3D-printable handgun.

Now he has.

Early next week [the] founder of the non-profit group Defense Distributed, plans to release the 3D-printable CAD files for a gun he calls the Liberator,

All sixteen pieces of the Liberator prototype were printed in ABS plastic, [except] a single nail thats used as a firing pin. The gun is designed to fire standard handgun rounds, using interchangeable barrels for different calibers of ammunition.

Technically, Defense Distributeds gun has one other non-printed component: the group added a six ounce chunk of steel into the body to make it detectable by metal detectors in order to comply with the Undetectable Firearms Act. In March, the group also obtained a federal firearms license, making it a legal gun manufacturer.

Since it was founded last August, Wilsons group has sought to make as many components of a gun as possible into printable blueprints and to host those controversial files online, thwarting gun laws and blurring the lines between the regulation of firearms and information censorship.

Stay tuned for more. In the mean time, heres another photo of Defense Distributeds prototype.

Congressman Steve Israel issued a press release Friday responding to this story: Security checkpoints, background checks, and gun regulations will do little good if criminals can print plastic firearms at home and bring those firearms through metal detectors with no one the wiser, his statement reads. When I started talking about the issue of plastic firearms months ago, I was told the idea of a plastic gun is science-fiction. Now that this technology is proven, we need to act now to extend the ban [on] plastic firearms.

When I was young and foolish I discovered that you can fire a .22LR round in a barrel bored through a chunk of seasoned Oak, without losing any body parts in the process. This design would work in hardwood.

I've battered my parts over the decades, but still got all of them!

14
posted on 05/03/2013 12:29:04 PM PDT
by SWAMPSNIPER
(The Second Amendment, a Matter of Fact, Not a Matter of Opinion)

And now we have the justification required for TSA in bus stations, train stations, subway stations, along with billions in new high tech xray scanners to detect these plastic guns. Oh, and of course, almost every public access to political events curtailed, as there would be no way to assure security.

That’ll be the government’s take on it, rather than simply: The people have debated the 2nd Amendment, and the 2nd won.

16
posted on 05/03/2013 12:29:56 PM PDT
by kingu
(Everything starts with slashing the size and scope of the federal government.)

I don't think we will see that happen but there are propellants that can be manufactured from household chemicals. You won't get the velocity of powder but you will get enough to be deadly at close range. If the propellant is stored as part of the weapon, it could be metered on an as-needed basis. I think we are going to see a lot of innovation in the production of printed weapons, including the ammo.

Congressman Steve Israel issued a press release Friday responding to this story: Security checkpoints, background checks, and gun regulations will do little good if criminals can print plastic firearms at home and bring those firearms through metal detectors with no one the wiser, his statement reads. When I started talking about the issue of plastic firearms months ago, I was told the idea of a plastic gun is science-fiction. Now that this technology is proven, we need to act now to extend the ban [on] plastic firearms.

The gun may be "undetectable," but the bullets won't be, numbnuts.

23
posted on 05/03/2013 12:39:40 PM PDT
by E. Pluribus Unum
(Islam is a religion of peace, and Moslems reserve the right to detonate anyone who says otherwise.)

That will happen if this catches on, without-one-single-solitary doubt. How do you like this story yesterday in the NY Post...Store owner fined $60,000 that’s sixty THOUSAND dollars for selling a 3 inch lighter that looks like a gun.

Congressman Steve Israel issued a press release Friday responding to this story: Security checkpoints, background checks, and gun regulations will do little good if criminals can print plastic firearms at home and bring those firearms through metal detectors with no one the wiser, his statement reads.

Great, the Congressmen gets it, and surely will propose we do away with these regulations that have been made obsolete by advances in technology! Right?

When I started talking about the issue of plastic firearms months ago, I was told the idea of a plastic gun is science-fiction. Now that this technology is proven, we need to act now to extend the ban [on] plastic firearms.

The broken trigger suggests that the designer was a CAD commando, obsessed with extrusions, volumes of revolution, splined curves, and constructive solid geometry, but spent his time napping during strengths of materials class.

The scary thing here, is that a single bullet starts to get into false alarm territory. People don’t like false alarms (turn the sensitivity down...!) or having to explain their implants (a LOT of people have some kind of metal part).

50
posted on 05/03/2013 1:26:49 PM PDT
by The Antiyuppie
("When small men cast long shadows, then it is v?ery late in the day.")

Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.